Bufflehead

Spent some time at Ambleside again on Saturday and tried to locate the Harris's sparrow for a couple of photogs there unsuccesfully, one guy had been there all morning, at least there were other birds to shoot and i wasn't there for the sparrow myself anyways.

My photog friend Peter Holmes had mentioned in an email that a Eurasian Wigeon was currently at the pond and i had seen buffleheads there last weekend already so another short trip over was called for since i enjoy shooting ducks immensely for some reason.

The first thing i heard when arriving was the call of a drake Hooded Merganser, displaying for a female, sweet.







spotted the Eurasian Wigeon soon after, not the first time i've had one of these birds at Ambleside.



The real personal highlight for me was getting a couple of decent shots of Bufflehead as the session was winding down. I shoot these guys every year with varying degrees of success, i find the camera has a hard time dealing with the white and dark contrast of the bird and blowout is always a concern, not an easy bird to shoot IMO.

I used to think that i needed flash to bring out the subtle irridescence in the face but i guess not. 

ISO 400, f/5.6 700mm (500mm f4 + 1.4x tele), no flash. 
RAW file post-processed though to bring out those details that are subtle in the white.



one more buffy